NBA Rumors: B.S. Meter on Greg Monroe, DeAndre Jordan and Other Hot Topics
It's a testament to the strength of the NBA rumor mill when one of the season's most significant transactions (Eric Bledsoe going to the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this month) begets more trade speculation.
That's where we are with Bledsoe's old team, the Phoenix Suns. In the aftermath of Greg Monroe's arrival, the next move is...another move. It might be Monroe, or it might be one of his veteran teammates. Nobody's sure.
The important thing to remember is that there is no end to the whirlwind of speculation and reporting in this league.
Here, we'll do what we can to separate the specious rumors from the logical ones. The good news is, if we're wrong about anything, the next cycle of leaks and whispers will shift everyone's attention to whatever's next. Because there is always something else brewing in the NBA rumor mill.
Suns Fire Sale
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The Phoenix Suns already had a reason to dump any veteran not nailed down: They're rebuilding, and vets—costly ones, especially—don't fit the timeline.
The arrival of Mike James (No, not that one. This one.) gives them another reason anyway. Phoenix needs to carve out a roster spot before James' two-way deal runs out on Dec. 6, according to Scott Bordow of AZCentral.com, and it intends to do so by moving one of its three veteran centers.
Alex Len can't go anywhere until Dec. 23 because he signed a qualifying offer with the Suns this past offseason. The timing rules him out as a trade candidate for now.
Tyson Chandler is the steady veteran whom Suns general manager Ryan McDonough praised for not requesting a trade during the Eric Bledsoe drama. With one more year and $13.6 million left on his deal after this season, Chandler could help a contending club off the bench and potentially be a buyout candidate in 2018-19. He has value as a tone-setting mentor, though, and Phoenix may prefer to keep him around as a positive influence, particularly if he's happy in that role.
Of course, there's also Greg Monroe, whom Phoenix got from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Bledsoe. He's on an expiring deal and played the best basketball of his career as Milwaukee's sixth man last year. Big men who don't stretch the floor aren't in high demand, but Monroe proved his old-school worth in 2016-17. Finding an incoming salary to match Monroe's $17.8 million this season will complicate things.
One of these Suns centers will be on the move. There's little doubt about that. Call it a toss-up between Chandler and Monroe as the most likely departure.
B.S. Meter Reading: No Bull
Pelicans Under Pressure
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The clock's ticking a little faster this year.
Thanks to a stretched-out schedule and the offseason decision to move the trade deadline up to Feb. 8, teams have less time to make their in-season assessments. As Danny Leroux of the Sporting News points out, the New Orleans Pelicans face the highest stakes in this tweaked trade-deadline environment:
"New Orleans could easily shift between tentative buyer and tentative seller over the next 10 weeks, but the 50-game mark could just be too early for it to know definitively, potentially inspiring a holding pattern, though pressure from ownership and a lack of job security could push general manager Dell Demps toward buying if the Pelicans are in the playoff hunt."
DeMarcus Cousins is the key figure in all this. An unrestricted free agent after the season, he could leave the Pels with nothing. Does New Orleans try to add pieces now in hopes of impressing Cousins enough (and winning enough) to continue the relationship with a new contract this summer? Does it cut bait on Cousins before he hits free agency, getting something back before even facing that doomsday scenario?
The Pelicans have a major decision to make, and they'll have less information than teams in their situation normally would.
Let's also keep Anthony Davis in mind. If these next few weeks see New Orleans selling off future assets for short-term help, after which Cousins leaves anyway...you'd have to think AD would start agitating for a trade.
The Pels are under immense pressure, and the revamped schedule only adds to it.
B.S. Meter Reading: No Bull
Clippers Moving DeAndre Jordan?
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The Los Angeles Clippers are losing games left and right these days, suffering from injuries to key rotation players and watching Blake Griffin struggle through late-game situations with little help. The injuries are a legitimate excuse; Danilo Gallinari, Patrick Beverley and Milos Teodosic could absolutely help this team if healthy.
But all three of those players came in with red flags raised high. We all knew they were injury risks. The Clippers did, too.
And now, as the predictable has come to pass, the rest of the league is waiting for the fallout.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on Sportsnation: "One of the most popular topics in the league right now among executives and agents is, No. 1: How long is Doc Rivers going to put up with this? And No. 2, What if this team gets to mid-December, into trade season, they're under. 500, do they look at doing something? Maybe DeAndre Jordan, maybe Patrick Beverley and reshaping themselves for the future?"
Normally, you'd look at Jordan's situation with the Clippers and peg him as a certain trade candidate. He's under contract this year for $22.6 million with a player option for next year valued at $24.1 million. Without Chris Paul around spoon-feeding Jordan lobs, his offensive value has taken a hit. And now Griffin is inked for a half-decade at the max, the math just doesn't support paying Jordan big bucks to stay.
So dealing him now and recouping something of future value should be the play.
Here's the thing, though: The Clippers foolishly lavished maximum money on an injury-prone Griffin after Paul bounced. This is a franchise clearly committed to staying relevant in the present at the expense of being competitive in the future. Losing Paul created a clear opportunity to start over, and the Clips passed on it.
So even if it makes sense to get something for Jordan now rather than letting him leave—or worse, committing to him on a long-term deal after he opts out—the Clippers' history indicates they won't pull the trigger.
B.S. Meter Reading: Lots of bull
Doc on the Hot Seat?
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Logic dictates that when a team with playoff aspirations and a fat payroll loses nine games in a row, the coach is going to be under extra pressure. We don't need plugged-in reporters like the New York Times' Marc Stein to verify what we already know.
But when we get verification anyway, it means something.
Stein tweeted: "Nine straight defeats, as well as the manner of tonight’s fourth-quarter surrender at Madison Square Garden, will inevitably foist hot-seat scrutiny on Doc Rivers ... one of only six active NBA coaches to own a championship ring."
In addition to this year's unmet expectations, we've also got the events of last summer heating up Rivers' seat.
Owner Steve Ballmer removed Rivers from his role as team president, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported he called around to former Clippers asking for their opinions on what it was like to play for Rivers.
Those aren't the actions of an owner convinced he's got the right coach.
Rivers is under contract through the 2018-19 season. He's not going to last that long.
B.S. Meter Reading: No Bull
Luka Doncic Is No. 1
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Eighteen-year-old Luka Doncic is tearing it up for Real Madrid, and international basketball reporter David Pick is hearing some serious draft buzz, tweeting: "NBA scout: 'If Luka Doncic keeps doing what he's doing, he's going #1. Especially if CHI, SAC, DAL or CLE gets the pick.'"
Folks, we are past the era of looking askance at international competition. The days of questioning a prospect's worth because he's not playing in college are done.
Moreover, this isn't Giannis Antetokounmpo loping around rec center gyms in the Greek "B" league or Kristaps Porzingis lofting feathery jumpers in workouts without defenders. This is the Euroleague, second-best in the world behind the NBA. And Doncic is dominating it.
"Doncic is on pace to be the most accomplished teenager in European basketball history," Sam Vecenie wrote for the Athletic. "Following a summer in which he won all-tournament honors at EuroBasket, the Slovenian star has taken his stellar play into Real Madrid's regular season. Through seven games, he's leading the EuroLeague in scoring."
More broadly, look at the crop of players taking over the NBA right now. It's Giannis and KP. It's Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons (he's semi-Australian, so he counts). International players are where it's at, which makes sense.
The NBA has been trying to grow itself into a global game for years now, and we're finally seeing the first wave of results. Think about it: In a decade, would you bet on the best player in basketball being an American? Would you bank on a country of 325 million producing a better athlete than the billions the rest of the basketball-playing world draws from?
There's someone better than LeBron James coming up in Africa or Asia or Europe right now, and his chances of being discovered and developed are greater than they've ever been.
That's a roundabout way of saying Doncic should absolutely be the prospective top pick.
B.S. Meter Reading: No Bull
